TALLIT (S) TALLIOT (P) –
fringed garment…prayer shawl…traditionally worn by Jews. It is a Hebrew word
which means little covering.
It represents the
Righteousness of Elohim.
Has special twined and
knotted fringes known as Tzizit attached to the
four corners. The cloth part is known as
the “beged” and is usually made from wool or
linen. Silk is sometimes used. The tallit can be worn under or over
clothing. The neckband is called the Atarah and has the blessing “Baruch atah Adonai”… which is
recited each time before it is adorned.
The word Tallit does not
appear in Torah but there are many instances where the “covering” is
indicated. Ruth asked Boaz to cover her
with his garment because he was a near kinsman of Naomi (Ruth3:9). Psalm 91 speaks of the tallit. The woman with the issue of blood touched the
hem of Yeshua’s garment and was immediately healed. (Matt. 9:20-22) The power is in the Tzizit. As soon as she touched the hem…the Tzitzit,
Yeshua knew because He felt the power leave him.
Elohim instructed Moses
(Numbers 15:38) to tell the children of Israel to make fringes on the corners
of their garments throughout the ages.
It is to be a blue thread. It is
traditionally worn during morning prayers on week days and Shabbat and other
Jewish holidays. Although it has other
ritual uses, the Torah states that to display the Tzitzit is
to remind oneself to observe all the commandments (613) of the Lord and to
guard against the sin of unbelief. NUMERICAL VALUE OF TZITZIT IS 600. COMBINED WITH THE 5 KNOTS OF 8 THREADS GIVES
A TOTAL OF 613 according to the Jewish sages. The Tallit is worn by Jewish boys/men, who are bar
mitzvah during morning services. It
is not worn during afternoon and evening prayers because Biblical
interpretation understands it to be worn only during the light of day. Worn during morning prayers (Numbers 15:38-39), Torah reading services, during a special portion of Yom Kippur and some
other holiday services, special occasions such as circumcisions, bar mitzvahs,
weddings (used sometimes to make a canopy or Chuppah) over the couple, Shabbat
home services for blessing the children, burial…an Orthodox Jewish man is
wrapped in his Tallit when he is buried.
The Tzitzits are cut from the corners at this time. It is important that we note that when Yeshua
was placed in the tomb His Tzitzits were not removed as He would rise again in
3 days. A form of the tallit, called the
Tallit Katan may be worn at all times.
Shrouding ones head in a
tallit is a way to keep the eyes from straying and to create a sense of focus…prayer closet. It is worn by
husbands as they pray in their homes and the wives are with them under the
shawl.
The Tzitzit
Blessing. It is removed from the Tallit bag or
the Synagogue rack, carefully unfolded, held up and inspected to ensure there
are no defects on it. Then the prayer is
recited.
·
A
cord of techelet, thought to be a royal blue/purple is supposed to be added to
the fringe at each corner. However the
dye came from a now extinct snail found near Tyre, the color requirement has
been waived. As a reminder of the
techelet either blue or sometimes black stripes are added to the tallit itself.
Many customs …do not wear your Tallit into the
bathroom
The Tzitzit are kissed during the recitation of the 3rd
paragraph of the Shema (Numbers 15:37-41) which mentions the Tzitzit 3 times.
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